New Scottish Golf affiliation fee vote in October

Scottish Golf has announced there will be a new vote on October 4 on raising the affiliation fee that all 170,000+ members of Scottish golf clubs pay it.

Due to a funding crisis in golf in Scotland, the body that runs the amateur game wanted to increase the annual affiliation fee from £11.25 to £24 in 2017, but following feedback the vote was postponed to earlier this year and the figure reduced to £15. However, at the governing body’s annual general meeting in Edinburgh, members voted to reject the investment proposals by a majority of just 35.

The meeting has been driven by a group of seven ‘Area and County’ associations that have tabled a proposal for the affiliation fee to increase from £11.25 to £14.50.

Scottish Golf CEO Andrew McKinlay

The new figure would raise an additional £552,500 and, if approved, the affiliation fee will be ‘frozen’ by the governing body until 2022.

The associations, which call themselves ‘The Requisitionists’, are keen to give Scottish Golf a chance to look at how it can raise income from ‘nomadic’ golfers who pay-and-play at courses at cut-price rates at a time when club membership is declining, reports The Scotsman.

‘In recognising that, Scottish Golf has vowed to invest around £150,000 annually on providing a new non-compulsory free-of-charge IT system to assist clubs with an emphasis on nomadic golfers,’ it reports.

‘Other areas of investment if the new figure is approved include a potential £100,000 per year on a ‘national junior programme’ that would aim to build on current initiatives for youngsters by having a ‘collaborative approach’.

‘On the club front, it is being predicted that £75,000 could be used to build on the success so far of a buying group with the same figure going towards improving Scottish Golf’s ‘education offering’. As well as limiting cuts that are in the pipeline if the figure stays the same, the additional money would also allow approximately £50,000 per year to be spent on the governing body’s marketing and communications budget.’